Duped Hearts
by miekhead
Summary: Set during the 1x08 episode of Duped. Artie's stubbornness regarding the reflection of Lewis Carroll's mirror causes Claudia and Leena's friendship to develop...somewhat.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Warehouse 13, or any of John Walter Bratton's teddy bears. I wish I did.

Hope you guys enjoy as much as I enjoyed writing this - I love this ship. And most of the stuff actually happened in the first bit of the chapter. That's the thing I love about subtext. If you look for it, it's always there. This is my first W13 fic, and definitely not my last. SPOILERS: 1x08 Duped.

oxoxoxo

"What's this?" Leena frowned at the vast covered artifact. She was breathless. Claudia sighed and watched as Artie uncovered the mirror bumbling profusely about the mirror. He was almost apologetic.

"Artie, what happened?" Leena's eyes shifted to Claudia who was shifting hesitantly on each foot.

Artie sighed. "Yeah…Optical divagation, I think."

"Wait, what?" Claudia frowned. He didn't mention that bit. He just continued to babble.

"Pretty lively shadow," Leena said quietly, a strange, slightly excited look on her face as she stared at Myka's reflection.

"Yes but is it?" Artie pointed a finger.

Claudia was close to throwing up her hands. "Is it what?"

"Alive," Leena muttered back. Myka's image thumped at them, her fist pressed against the 'glass' and her lips mouthing out 'Help me.' Claudia's eyes were fixed on Leena's face. That strange look still remained and she looked at Artie with a flirty simper. "Do you wanna?"

"Sure," Artie shrugged. Claudia scowled as the innkeeper rolled up her sleeves with a grin and flipped up the back of her top revealing her shapely backside.

The redhead's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Umm…what's that about?" She couldn't help herself. She was jealous, and her mouth was moving before she had the chance to stop it.

Artie groaned. "I'm gonna pull her back if she falls in, get your mind out the gutter." He took a tighter hold to Leena's belt and gripped hard. Her jeans came away slightly from her body and Claudia's eyes darted from the mirror back to the woman's jeans and the pair of light pink panties that peeked out. Leena caressed the mirror gently, trying to sense Myka's aura. Sadness. She sensed a little sadness - but nothing much.

"Thanks," she said calmly when Artie finally released her.

"So?" He asked expectantly.

She shrugged, "Nothing," and glanced at Claudia who looked more than a little disconcerted. They conversed some more about what it could be, until Artie practically told her to get lost. She sighed and walked off, not missing Leena giving her a gentle brush to her side. She knew that gesture. It meant ''we'll talk later.'

oxoxoxo

"He's fine, so is Myka." Artie said as he shut the Farnsworth. Leena had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. The man was so damn stubborn. But something was wrong. She knew it - something wasn't quite right. She would have followed Claudia. She would have, but after getting into yet another argument with the man, she looked up after an hour and a half to see Claudia trundling in with a ridiculous contraption, pride evident on her face. Leena immediately stood up to help the young woman set the equipment up.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm opening a line of communication," the redhead grinned. "The CIA uses laser mics to read vibrations off windows to hear what's going on the other side, righ-"

"No, wait… wait wait." Artie shook his hand. _There he goes again_. Claudia came to a halt and tried to persuade him. She even wrestled with him a little to get to the mirror, but he still refused to let her help. Myka was in there. Claudia grit her teeth. She knew it was Myka. And she knew her friend was sad, and lost and she knew that she needed to come home. Sidling up to Leena, she turned her back to the man and lowered her voice to make sure the warehouse supervisor wasn't listening.

"It's Myka…" Claudia's voice nearly broke.

Leena gave her a thin-lipped smile. "I know…"

"Talk to him." The younger woman sighed. "Please…"

"I will. I'll try." Leena nodded. Claudia cleared her throat and broke away from Leena's gaze before scuttling off to complete her set up of her invention.

After begging, Leena had finally gotten Artie to let them try to hear Myka through the mirror. "Say something," she said gently.

Myka looked uncharacteristically shy and somewhat bruised. She shifted on her feet and opened her mouth. "Artie when I get out of here I'm hugging her and I'm kicking your ass."

Leena and Claudia shared a wide smile. That was, until, "Well that won't be happening." Artie swivelled angrily in his chair and turned his back from the mirror.

"Artie it's me," Myka whimpered.

"No, no," Artie scoffed, refusing to look at her. "You're just a reflection. The real Myka is in Las Vegas on a mission with Pete."

"No, I'm not… Artie!" Myka raised her voice. Both women stared at the mirror in anguish.

"Turn that thing off," Artie sighed. Claudia was still frozen. She couldn't move, and she just watched as the man she'd come to love as a father switched off the gadget angrily. Myka continued to scream, but they couldn't hear a thing. She had been successfully silenced. "Whatever that thing is, it's never getting out of here." Claudia growled and threw the rest of her invention onto the floor before stomping off.

"Claud-" Leena was quick to catch her hand.

Claudia waved her off. "I can't. Not now. You sort it out," she sighed. "He'll never fucking listen to me. Ever," she hissed. She still felt jealous. She needed space, and fresh air, and she needed to get away from the both of them. "You sort it out." Her voice finally broke.

"I will," Leena promised quietly.

oxoxoxo

Claudia hadn't gone far. Leena smiled to herself, seeing the redhead's head poking up out the window, the blinds half shut. The innkeeper tried to persuade Artie that it was Myka once more, which instead brought out an irate rant about the 'real' Alice and her mental instability.

"There are a lot of loose ends here, so I'm not gonna… Hey, that is why Claudia," he raised his voice to the morose figure sat outside the office, "taking inventory is so important!"

Claudia closed her eyes. Why was he being so damn harsh? She skulked off and did as he asked. Leena waited a beat and sighed, verbalising the possible reasons as to why "Myka" was stuck in the mirror. Artie just grumbled and looked over the paperwork. The innkeeper slowly slipped out of her seat and tiptoed out of the office. "Hi."

Claudia sighed and looked up at the woman. "I do not understand that man."

Leena smiled gently and bent down. "Neither do I." She held out her hand. "Come on…"

"Where are we going?" Claudia stared at the outstretched fingers and cautiously took them.

Leena smirked. "Inventory." She twined their fingers and pulled the young woman up. Claudia sighed again, staring at her feet as she walked but she didn't let go - she couldn't. It was like the black woman had put some spell on her and she followed her blindly until they were brought to aisle 379-B.

"What are we doing?" Claudia began to smile as she saw John Walter Bratton's picnic blanket laid on the floor already. The innkeeper had planned this. "Leena… come on, even you know this is just asking for trouble."

"All the bears are asleep." She tugged on Claudia's hand until they were both sat down on the blanket. Plush bears were scattered on the old blanket and a stumble nearly caused the small redhead to sit on one. Her eyes widened when one teddy bear sat up and offered her a teacup. "Seriously?"

Leena just smiled with a small shrug and picked up her own cup, pressing the rim to her lips. "Drink."

Claudia sighed and took a sip. Her nose wrinkled. "That's not tea."

"What did you want?" Leena quirked her lips into yet another grin.

The young woman spluttered a little and wiped her mouth. "Well... this seems to be vodka."

"Vodka?" Leena seemed impressed. "You've done this before."

"Sure, Leena, I've sat at a teddy bear's picnic and wished for vodka." Claudia rolled her eyes. She stopped suddenly and casually took the other woman's cup, taking a cautious sip. "Wait…this is tea."

Leena frowned, "I like tea." She looked down to see a small teddy bear yawn suddenly as he 'came to life' and rolled over. She grinned and scratched his tummy, watching him stretch and go back to his slumber. Her eyes darted up to Claudia's face, watching the glee shimmer across her eyes. Claudia blinked, realizing she'd been had.

Claudia rolled her eyes. "Okay, he's cute. This is cute."

"It's my favorite." Leena was practically bubbling with happiness. "One of the most harmless artifacts here."

"I used to be scared of this song as a kid." Claudia shuffled a little closer to the woman.

Leena shrugged. "I think it's the threat. Don't go down to the woods-"

"Or you'll trip the fuck out and get served by Winnie the Pooh." Claudia began to giggle. "Can I change this?" She held up the cup.

Leena smiled and poured the woman another drink. "You sensed it too, like I did. The readings I've been teaching you. You could tell."

"That it was Myka? Of course I could," Claudia sighed. "That wasn't because I was reading auras. She just looked sad."

Leena shrugged. "Artie's a clever man, Claud. He had no idea. He still doesn't."

"That's because he's paranoid." The redhead grumbled.

"But you have the gift." Leena smiled, feeling Claudia unconsciously move even closer. She cleared her throat and took a sip of her tea. "You uhh.. You were jealous."

"What?" Claudia closed her eyes as she took a sip of her… beer. She rolled her eyes. "I think my subconscious is an alcoholic."

"It's the id." Leena smiled.

Claudia tried not to laugh and pointed a finger. "Don't go all Freudian on me."

"Don't change the subject."

Claudia sipped on her beer. "What was the subject?"

Leena's eyes twinkled. "You were jealous. When I inspected the mirror. Who were you jealous of?"

Claudia flopped down onto the blanket and cuddled one of the sleeping bears. The bear turned in her arms and yawned, nuzzling close. "Why are we talking about this?"

"Can you just… can you answer the question?" Leena went a little quiet.

"Artie. I was jealous."

"You like Artie?" Leena frowned. Well this was…new. They probably had an age gap of about 40 years. Stranger things had happened, right?

"Leena," Claudia chuckled. Leena was obviously trying to be okay with this. "Leena…" Nope, the woman was still thinking introspectively.

_Artie didn't think of Claudia like that - did he? No, no_… Leena shuddered. He definitely thought of her as a daughter, no matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise. Leena's eyes opened suddenly when she felt a fluttering sensation against her lips. Claudia pulled away from the brief but emphatic kiss. "You, you goof."

"M-Me? What me?" Leena frowned.

Claudia rolled her eyes and chuckled the woman's chin with a thumb. "I like you." Leena just stared back at her, her eyes wide.

"Y...You like... You like me?" Leena's voice was small. Claudia gave an embarrassed nod.

"Claudiaaaa, Leeenaaa!" Artie's distorted voice filtered through the nearest speakers. "I think you guys need to come have a look at this." He held the papers in his hand, feeling remorse. They were right. The reflection was Myka. Alice was in Las Vegas. Of course, he wouldn't admit that just yet. Not yet.

"We gotta go have a look at this… whatever _this_ is," Claudia shrugged. Leena was still a little breathless and she nodded mutely. She held out her hand. "Come on…" Leena nodded again and took the younger woman's hand. Claudia…Claudia was nearly 20. And she was… well, she was older. The redhead hastily cleared the picnic away and tugged on the dazed woman's hand. One kiss and Leena was in a trance. Claudia grinned and her head began to snoopy dance.

Her mind drifted to Myka. They had to save her. They had to think of a way to get her back. Her hand tingled when Leena let go, and she smiled confidently. They would get her back. They'd get her back. They'd get her back, and then Leena and she would talk at home and get rid of some tension. _Woaaaah scary thought. _Claudia closed her eyes and then opened them, watching as her friend snapped out of her trance.

"We can talk about this later..." She paused. "At home, I mean... That cool?"

Leena nodded. "Sure."

"Alrighty then," Claudia nodded and cleared her throat again and climbed the stairs back up to the office.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Last instalment of this little two-shot.

**Warning:** Rated M for content. Hope you all enjoyed, those of you who want more, I'm actually doing little fics for each episode where Claudia and Leena interact so stay with me.

oxoxoxo

Leena watched through the binoculars as Alice strolled her way down the aisles, one by one, intent evident in her strut. As Claudia started the machine up, she tried not to grin. This was hot. They were hot, being completely badass. They proved to be an awesome team, with or without Artie. They were going to get Myka back. She bit the inside her cheek and gave a sideways glance towards Leena who was bent over slightly, peering down at the action.

"Artie, now!" They heard Pete's distant call and Claudia manoeuvred the laser over to the disco ball. The old-time disco beats pumped through the warehouse but this time she wasn't dancing. Claudia watched the colors flying aimlessly through the air. _Oh wow... _Arousal. Breathing was beginning to get hard and she held onto the machine, unable to move her eyes away. Unable to stop herself, she finally looked over at Leena whose eyes were stuck to the disco ball, her chest rising and falling rapidly. They were standing close, and finally Claudia loosened her grip on the tripod in front of her. She pushed Leena to the wall behind them, crashing her back against the metal and felt the innkeeper tug her down for their first proper kiss, a kiss she happily received and gave back.

The older woman let out a small moan and opened her mouth, letting her tongue taste Claudia's lips, her own tongue, her chin. She felt drunk, and intoxicated. Hands tugged on the zipper to her trousers. She couldn't tell whether they were hers or her friend's, but she helped pushed them passed the hips and let Claudia's hand fumble into her briefs. With one swift push, fingers entered her and she groaned, widening her legs to let the smaller woman thrust. The wetness, she couldn't describe. She had never been like this before, she had never had her head so muddled before. She was foggy, and desperate, and the only thing she knew was that she needed Claudia now.

Claudia felt Leena's fingers tug into her hair as she pulled her closer. Leena groaned, her hips rocking in time to the younger woman's pistoning arm. Her hands grasped at Claudia's hips, pushing the waistband to the redhead's skinny jeans down until their legs locked together and she found her way into Claudia's underwear. Music stopped. Claudia's head cleared. Her fingers were wet, and warm and in someth- She ripped her mouth away from her friend's and gasped. Her palm was touching soft hair. That meant... Her fingers were inside somebody. She was having sex. This classed as sex, right? _Oh god… oh god, no… _She felt as if she'd been under water for too long. Her lungs were heavy and she slowly pulled out, trying not to freak out or hurt the woman, she just needed to get away.

"Claudia?" Leena's voice was full of confusion, haze… desire. Claudia shook her head and pushed the woman's hand away.

"N…No, I didn't…" Claudia hastily pulled up her pants and buttoned herself up. "I didn't want it that way."

Leena blinked. Realization flooded her face and she peered down at herself, jeans and panties around her ankles. "Oh god…" She looked like she was about to cry. "I didn't mean.. I'm sorry."

Claudia couldn't talk. She was too embarrassed and she ran down the stairs, unable to watch the woman cry.

"Claudia…" Leena's face scrunched up and she pulled up her clothes and made herself decent before following. "Claudia, wait…"

When she finally caught up with her friend, Claudia's stomps could probably be heard through the whole warehouse. "Claud… that wasn't us. It was the disco ball."

"Firstly," Claudia's voice broke. "The disco ball shouldn't have worked inside."

"But it did.." Leena mumbled. "That wasn't me, I didn't… I couldn't control myself."

"What, and you think I could?" Claudia looked hurt. "You think… you think I just did it for the kicks?"

"Well you… I just…" Leena became breathless as she tried to keep up with the redhead. "You said you liked me."

"Exactly!" Claudia pulled her trousers more snugly around her waist. "I told you I liked you, that doesn't mean I wanted to fuck you as soon as I got a chance. Who the hell do you think I am?" She turned to look at her, dark eyes burning into lighter ones. "I'm sorry. I just… this is messed up." Everything went quiet apart from the sound of breathing as the two women stormed past aisles like they were on Supermarket Sweep. "And…and secondly, that is not how I wanted things."

"You didn't?" Leena frowned.

Claudia rolled her eyes. "For some reason, I wanted to do the thing that normal people do, and ask you out somewhere outside this goddamn place, where we don't get affected by hornymaking artifacts. I wanted to ask you out," she repeated softly.

Leena pulled Claudia to a stop, grabbing her hand and pulling her swiftly until she faced her. "Do it."

"Do what?" Claudia stuttered. Leena rolled her eyes. "Oh… oh!" Rubbing her hands self consciously, she then looked up at her friend and smiled shyly. "Okay so… so Howie Day is playing in Martin on Sunday… I mean, I wasn't gonna go because hello, soppy as! Plus, he's probably still on probation. And I wasn't going to go on my own and look like some pill-popping loser listening to Mr. Maudlin." Leena was frowning, clearly confused. "But it's in a secret location, and I kinda can't pass it up now, so will you go with me?"

"What's Howie Day?" Leena mumbled, not sure of what she was getting herself into.

Claudia's nose wrinkled and she wiped her hand self consciously on her pants before pulling the older woman close. "You're cute. Just say yes." Arms fit snugly around Leena's waist.

"Okay," Leena giggled. "Sure. Yes. I'd love to."

Claudia smiled and cleared her throat, then cautiously pecked Leena on the cheek before releasing her hold on the innkeeper. "Awesome."

Leena blushed and looked down at her feet, then her head snapped back up, eyes widening. "The mirror."

"Crapsico," the redhead sighed. "Come on…" She began to walk down the aisle, following the remnants of light coming from the Studio 54 ball as it dimmed. "Hey, Leena?"

"Yeah?" Leena pulled the redhead down the right aisle, then let go of her arm.

"We were pretty kickass back there, huh?"

"When?"

"When we knew what we were actually doing," Claudia said hastily.

"Sure," Leena smiled, relaxing. "We were."

"We should call ourselves something." Claudia chirped excitedly.

"Like what?" She had no idea what Claudia was talking about.

"Like… I dunno, but I'll get back to you."

"Can't wait," Leena rolled her eyes, but held the grin with her friend.

A sudden squeal came from the younger woman. "Cleena; better than your average Warehouse maid."

"Oh my god." Leena actually stopped in her tracks and turned Claudia. "You are kidding, right? Please tell me you're kidding…"

Claudia just chortled and hopped away from the thwack that was aimed for her shoulder. "Get it? Cleena…cause.. We clean and stuff. Myka and Pete go out on the field, and we're like the little mice. And we rock at inventory." The innkeeper crossed her arms and frowned. Claudia wasn't fazed. "You love it. I know you love it." Leena finally rolled her eyes and let out a hint of a smile.

By the time they reached their friends, both women were practically skipping, smiles on their faces, both happy for Myka's return and their own personal discoveries. Leena pushed down the slight bit of fear she felt. She could do this. Artie would kill her for sure, though. He would demand she have nothing to do with the Warehouse if he found out what they were doing. Friends was fine. Friends was fun… Dating was a different matter entirely, and Claudia was much, much younger.

But it was just one date, right? This date would be fun, and hopefully she'd relax, but if that was all that happened, she'd deal. She wouldn't push herself, not after what had just happened. She'd wait, and wait for Claudia to determine how fast things would go. Leena smiled and hugged Myka, welcoming her back. She pulled back and shared a soft grin with Claudia who gave her a little wink. Yep, this weekend was going to be fun.


End file.
